Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis.  A term we are all familiar with in the US but more from a historical viewpoint.  

It is alive and thriving well here.  One of the interesting statistics I read was that patients with HIV have a 15% chance per year of developing active TB.  We see it here everyday.  While most of it is Pulmonary TB it also presents in the neck, pericardium, abdomen, brain, spine, and kidney.  

Terry pointed out to me at Church on Sunday how many people were coughing.  I could not help but wonder how many of those coughs were spreading TB about.  

The government pays for TB treatment which is a good thing to enhance treatment compliance.  This x-ray shows a great cavity in the lung caused by TB.  

One of the millennium goals is to reduce the incidence of TB as it is still responsible for many deaths in developing countries and the economic toll is costly.

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